Wow there's already a lot in this. Look forward to seeing how it develops.

A bit of an aside but I thought this was interesting. According to an article at http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43115485, genetic studies show the people who built all the Stone Age monuments mostly weren't the ancestors of the Celtic peoples of the Bronze Age.

The Stone Age population was at its height around 5,500 years ago but then had a major decline over centuries and stayed at a low level until 4,500 years ago. The reasons aren't certain but a mini ice age seems to have been the main culprit. Stone Henge was built in the middle of that period so maybe the people were doing what they could to get the gods to fix things. Around 4,500 years ago (2,500 BC) the Beaker people started arriving in Britain and the population went up again. The evidence points to peaceful settlement due to their being so much free land, but it's also thought they might have brought the plague with them. The end result was the Beaker people made up 90% of the gene pool within a few hundred years.

Wow there's already a lot in this. Look forward to seeing how it develops.

A bit of an aside but I thought this was interesting. According to an article at http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43115485, genetic studies show the people who built all the Stone Age monuments mostly weren't the ancestors of the Celtic peoples of the Bronze Age.

The Stone Age population was at its height around 5,500 years ago but then had a major decline over centuries and stayed at a low level until 4,500 years ago. The reasons aren't certain but a mini ice age seems to have been the main culprit. Stone Henge was built in the middle of that period so maybe the people were doing what they could to get the gods to fix things. Around 4,500 years ago (2,500 BC) the Beaker people started arriving in Britain and the population went up again. The evidence points to peaceful settlement due to their being so much free land, but it's also thought they might have brought the plague with them. The end result was the Beaker people made up 90% of the gene pool within a few hundred years.

Cool!

He just sits there tapping away all day on a tiny screen. But he tells everyone that he is slaying Orcs.

Wow there's already a lot in this. Look forward to seeing how it develops.

A bit of an aside but I thought this was interesting. According to an article at http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43115485, genetic studies show the people who built all the Stone Age monuments mostly weren't the ancestors of the Celtic peoples of the Bronze Age.

The Stone Age population was at its height around 5,500 years ago but then had a major decline over centuries and stayed at a low level until 4,500 years ago. The reasons aren't certain but a mini ice age seems to have been the main culprit. Stone Henge was built in the middle of that period so maybe the people were doing what they could to get the gods to fix things. Around 4,500 years ago (2,500 BC) the Beaker people started arriving in Britain and the population went up again. The evidence points to peaceful settlement due to their being so much free land, but it's also thought they might have brought the plague with them. The end result was the Beaker people made up 90% of the gene pool within a few hundred years.

I've updated the document with the same link as above. I have made tables for every terrain for game (hunting animals), encounters - more mundane ones than in a high fantasy game and also travelling hazards. I have also included rules for hunting, foraging, fishing, mining, logging and bartering. This document is starting to get very big as I haven't even starting on crafting or magic yet. A lot of the situations can apply to any time period, so once I've done Stone Age, most of the work can be done and all I will need to do for Bronze Age and Iron Age is state which skills are now available (and which ones have been lost, such as bone working) and what new items are available and what they cost.

I really need to sort out what resources you can get from each animal if you kill it too. Anyone know how many meals a woolly mammoth would provide?

updated again. Done all the encounters. going to do encounters for ruins and tombs. As with most fantasy worlds, my encounters assume that there are ruins of previously advanced civilisations. The good thing with Stone Age adventures is that simple medieval technology can serve in the place of magic. In the Stone Age, wielding an iron battleaxe and wearing a chainmail hauberk can make someone unstoppable.

Did you think about the option of having a Neanderthal playing character?
I would also put some very strong limitation to metalworking (otherwise it wouldn't be a proper Stone Age) making metal relics from aliens or ancient civilization even more "magic". Perhaps a metal weapon against a wood or stone weapon should destroy the opposing weapon. A bit the same historically happened when bronze civilizations met iron civilizations...

He's a real Nowhere man, sitting in his Nowhere land, making all his Nowhere plans for Nobody.

Did you think about the option of having a Neanderthal playing character?
I would also put some very strong limitation to metalworking (otherwise it wouldn't be a proper Stone Age) making metal relics from aliens or ancient civilization even more "magic". Perhaps a metal weapon against a wood or stone weapon should destroy the opposing weapon. A bit the same historically happened when bronze civilizations met iron civilizations...

That's some great points. I made rules for sundering weapons in my big collection document. That could be a viable strategy for someone with a metal weapon Vs someone with a wood, stone or bone weapon, rather than just trying to hit them.

Maybe I can separate metalwork into two skills - one for soft, native metals (silver and gold) and one for metals that you have to extract and shape in a forge (which will also require fire lore)

This is really impressive, thanks for sharing it! Some of the ideas which you have here are interesting outside of the setting in a normal AFF adventure as well. You give a much richer context for the characters to exist in (exhaustion, disease, getting tired in combat etc.).

Couple of comments:

You mention Vellium as a use for hides but then say later that there is no writing and anyway writing parchment made from hides only came later I think.

For the farming shouldn't the amount of food produced only be for during the harvest? You can only get the food then and after that it needs to be stored and preserved.

In chopping down a tree you suggest -1 if using a dagger or a sword. I can't imaging using a steel knife to cut down a tree let alone a bronze, copper or flint one.

Another thought regarding Endurance. For Endurance tests instead of using Skill you could use Stamina/2. This not only makes more sense than using skill but also means that an individual's endurance reduces if they are injured or have not been eating/resting enough.

This is really impressive, thanks for sharing it! Some of the ideas which you have here are interesting outside of the setting in a normal AFF adventure as well. You give a much richer context for the characters to exist in (exhaustion, disease, getting tired in combat etc.).

Couple of comments:

You mention Vellium as a use for hides but then say later that there is no writing and anyway writing parchment made from hides only came later I think.

For the farming shouldn't the amount of food produced only be for during the harvest? You can only get the food then and after that it needs to be stored and preserved.

In chopping down a tree you suggest -1 if using a dagger or a sword. I can't imaging using a steel knife to cut down a tree let alone a bronze, copper or flint one.

Appart from those little points, great job!

Vellum: I put that in as a leftover of the Bronze Age stuff. I'll put that in when I get to the Bronze Age.

good point with farming. The idea is that you make a roll every month and then add up the rolls from 12 months at harvest time. You get different results every month depending on the weather etc.

tree chopping: Good point. I was thinking of using those to cut small branches off trees. Maybe using a sword or dagger can only get you 1 wood at most.

Many thanks for reading! I'm going to keep at it! I've updated the document to include rules for butchering animals, avoiding combat with animals and a few other changes.